nahh, don't let the 199's Rambler-ness scare you off. it was in production from 1964 through the chrysler 4.0 days. one block/bellhousing change (1972), for the later stuff there's many trans options for the various bells etc. (for the early block, Modern Drivelines now makes a T-5 adapter for it; stock pre-72 blocks you're stuck with a T-96 or early T-14 pattern trans).
internally it's 7 mains, great journal sizes, it's incredibly well documented, many parts interchange over 40+ years. it's been bored and stroked to 280ci.
very rational design. the block is long (may be the longest passenger car inline six), lots of metal for mods. the later (EFI) heads flow incredibly well -- and you can bolt them onto the earliest blocks (with varying amounts of bolt-hole resizing, steam hole filling, etc).
barney navarro chose the 1964 7-main 199ci as the basis for his #50 indianapois car (67-69? never qualified, alas). first (single turbo) version was 550hp, second (twin turbo) was 700hp. the first one was a dead-stock block and (obviously modified) head. the second the block was drilled for four-bolt caps. so i guess for the rest of us the block torque limit is under 750 hp (lol).
Last edited by tom jennings; 11/06/13 04:03 AM.
